FDA Violations: 1,200 Retailers Cited For Breaking Federal Tobacco Rules

[onehandle]

Source: AP/Huffington Post

RICHMOND, Va. — The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it has issued about 1,200 warning letters to retailers in 15 states for violating federal tobacco regulations since beginning inspections under a 2009 law giving it authority to regulate the industry.

The agency's Center for Tobacco Products, using state contractors, has conducted more than 27,500 inspections of stores selling tobacco products. It is combating underage use of tobacco products, while also seeking to reduce tobacco-related diseases, which are responsible for about 443,000 deaths a year in the U.S.

"We all recognize that almost all smokers start smoking when they are kids, and those kids have to get those tobacco products somewhere," Dr. Lawrence Deyton, director of the Center for Tobacco Products, said in an interview with The Associated Press. "The retail community really is on the front line of helping to prevent our kids from initiating tobacco use. ... It's very important for every neighborhood to know that their retailers are enforcing this new law."

Inspectors visiting retailers nationwide were looking for violations of federal laws barring the sale of cigarettes or other tobacco products to anyone under 18 years old. There are also laws against the sale of flavored cigarettes or of cigarettes in packs that contain the words like "light," "mild," or "low-tar." Other laws bar retailers from selling single cigarettes, giving away free samples or promotional items like hats and T-shirts with cigarette and smokeless tobacco brands or logos.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/10/fda-violations-tobacco-regulations-citations_n_1085514.html

[Crazy Dave]

1. Same stores sell gas, junk food and alcohol

So much crap out there and the main focus is on tobacco.

[jerseyjack]

2. Tobacco is the only product that WILL kill you when used in accordance with its intended purpose. .

Junk food and other such crap may not.

[Crazy Dave]

3. That makes me feel better

I think I'll go gas up the SUV, drive around and force the whole city to breath my second hand emissions.

[robinlynne]

6. MAy kill you, not WILL kill you.

[nineteen50]

4. If I am ever accused of violating a federal law I hope I would just

get a letter of warning. Inequality of the law.

[JoeyT]

5. It isn't a letter of warning.

It's a huge ticket from the state agencies, who are pretty overzealous about enforcing it.

I hope I'm never on the wrong side of a federal law that requires I be able to tell the difference between an 18 year old with a real ID and a 17.* year old with a good fake one.